Method of driving sheet piling



oct; 2o, 1936.1J A, HAUSLER 2,957,947

'METHOD of' DRIVING SHEET PILING Filed May 14, 1954 5 sheets-sheet 1 N NSi w 1 miL im@ l mgm Tl Oct. 20, 1936.

A. H. HAUSLER METHOD OF" DRIVING SHEET FILING Filed May 14, 1934 5Sheets-Sheet 2 40 lv 224 I Oct. 20, 1936. A. H. HAusLER METHOD OFDRIVING SHEET FILING Filed May 14, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 oci. 2o, 1936.

A. H. HAUSILER METHOD OE' DRIVING'SHEET PILING 5 sheets-sheet 4 Fild May14, 1,954

Oct. 20, 1936. l A. H. HAusLl-:R 2,057,947

METHOD 0F DRIVING SHEET FILING Filed May 14, 1954 5 Sneetg`-sneet 5members illustrated in Fig. '7, together with portions of the adjacentpiles; t l

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of one of the guide members ilustrated inFigs. '7 and 8;

Fig. 10 shows a top plan view of one of the special piles of Ycross-section which are employed at the points where three wall sectionsmeet:

Fig. ll is a perspective view of a bar which may be employed forsecuring the piles of a panel together to hold the piles in assembledrelationship and to give the panel a predetermined form when it isplaced on end preliminary to beingunited with the panels;

Fig. 12 shows a top plan view of a number of interlocking sheet pilesconnected by the panel illustrated in Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 shows anfenlarged vertical section on the line I3|3 of Fig. 12;and

Fig. 14 shows a horizontal plan view, partially in section, illustratingthe means for enlarging the opening in one end oi' one of the spacingdevices to permit ready relative movement of an adjacent sheet piletherethrough.

In Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings there is illustrated a portion of abreakwater I5 comprising a series of connected sections I5, |5b, I5c andld, each of which comprises a surrounding Wall made up of interlockingsheet piles I 6 which are driven into the bed I'I of the river or harboror other waterway in which the breakwater is formed. A

through about three-quarters of the circumfer- Aence of the section. Theends of this section are connected by a wall section 20b which forms theend wall of the next adjacent section |5b. The other sections I5b, I5cand I5d are alike in construction, each comprising two curved side walls20C, which are convexed outwardly, and which are connected at their endsby a transverse end wall 20h, similar in form and dimensions to the onepreviously described. Each pile comprises a longitudinal flat web Iiiaunited at each edge with a curved portion IIib and these curved portionsare united with integrally formed hook members I6 and curvedguardmembers Id. With this construction, therev is provided at each edgeof the pile a longitudinal grove or recess IBe which is adapted tobe'engaged by the hook member of the next adjacent, and reverselyarranged, pile I6 when two piles are interlocked with each other. All ofthese wall sections are made up of interlocking sheet piles I Sand thepresent invention is directed to the method of and apparatus by whichthese piles are putin place. Other forms of sheet there is provided aspecially formed pile 2| of Y,

cross-section, shown particularly in Fig. l0. This pile comprises threeradiating plates 2|, two of which may be integrally formed, and eachplate has a curved portion 2 Ib united with a hook member 2|c and aguard member 2|d, thus forming a groove 2| adapted to interlock with theedge of one of the adjacent piles I6. One of the plate portions 2 Iawhich is separately formed, is united with the other plates 2| l bymeans of connecting plates 2If and'rivets 2|g.

' In order that the piles I6 forming a panel may be held in assembledrelationship with respect to each other while the panel is being movedfrom the place 'of assembly to the place where the piles are to bedriven, and'to hold the panel in the desired shape, the various pilesmaking up the panel are preferably secured to a channelshaped bar 22which is provided with a series of projecting wedge-bolts 271.'1 adaptedto engage apertures Iiix which are formed in the piles, preferablyadjacent the' upper ends thereof. The bar 22 is adapted to t against thewebs of alternate sheet piles, as shown in Fig. 12, and when thewedge-bolts 22B, which are preferably welded to the bar, have beeninserted through the apertures |61, the wedges or keys 22b are insertedthrough slots 22c in the wedge-bolts, as shown in Figs. 12 and 13, thusholding the sheet piles in place against the bar. The keys 22b arepreferably carried by chains 22d which are attached to the upper flangeof the bar 22 so that the keys are always in readiness for use. After asection or panel of interlocking sheet piling has been put in place, ashereinafter described, the keys 22b are removed and the bar 22 takenaway from the piles, preliminary to driving the piles.

Assuming that the first three sections I5, I5b and i5c of the breakwaterI5 have been formed according to the method of the present invention,and that the section I5d is about to be formed, there is rst placedagainst the outer end wall 2|)b of the section I5c a iloating raft 23which may be formed of wood or as a hollow metal structure and whichserves as a template l about which the sheet piles forming the remainingWalls of the section I5b are to be located and then driven. This raftserves also as a platform upon which workmen may stand during theoperation of placing the panels in position and also during theoperation of driving the piles, and it is secured to the next adjacentsection I5c by means of tie rods 24 which are secured to plates 25,carried by the raft, and also to the adjacent transverse wall 20h. Thesetie rods may be provided with turn-buckles 26 by which their lengths maybe adjusted. Having put the raft 23 in place, the next operation is toform the two side walls 20 and the transverse connecting wall 2I|h which'extend along the remaining edges of the raft 23. This may be doneaccording to the present invention by assembling part of the sheet pilesI5 of one of the side walls 20 on shore, or upon a dredge or scow, thusforming a panel 20 made up of a number of sheet piles interlocked witheach other and preferably connected by a bar 22 which is curved tocorrespond with the curvature of the lateral edge 23 of the raft. Whenthis panel has been formed, it is 'placed in position along the. edge ofthe raft with the lower edges of the pile resting on the bottom and oneor more of the sheet piles which are not bolte'd to the bar 2l may bedriven slightly into the bedof the river or harbor to assist in holdingthe panel in place. Other panels for the side walls 2l)c are similarly'formed and put in place and also corresponding panels for the end wallZlib which is4 to be formed along the curved end 23h of the raft.

' When these wall sections or panels are put in place along the edges ofthe raft 23 with the lower ends of the piles engaging the bed of thevriver or harbor, they are spaced apart rfrom each other and from thecorner piles 2l distances eachequal to the width of one sheet pile andthey are held in this spaced relation around the rait by means ofspacing devices or distance pieces Sill `which have the form shownparticularly in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. Each spacing device 3U comprises a bar39a having formed thereon a pair I of bosses Stb between which aremounted a pair of clamping members 3d". These clamping members arepivoted on the bossesV by means of pins Si and are provided at theirlends with curved portions 30d which are adapted to extend over andconform to the curvature of the guard members ltd or 2id of two adjacentsheet piles. The bar 3de of each spacing device is provided at each endwith a hook shaped portion 30@ which is adapted 'to extend' overand'conform to the shape of the outer portion of the hook member it@ or2i@ of anadjacent sheet pile. clampingmembers 3D0 are in closed`position, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the portions 30d and 30e formbetween them a longitudinal slot or groove adapted to receive both thehook member and the guard member of an adjacent sheet pile while at thesame time permitting this pile to be driven. The clamping members 30Care provided with slots ttf adapted to be engaged by lugs 32 which:

are formed on the bars 30a. These lugs 32 are provided with apertures32a which are adapted to be engaged by wedge-shaped pins 33. These pinsare secured on the clamping members 3W by means of chains 3d which aresecured to apertured lugs 30! which are formed on the outer faces oi theclamping members. g reenforced longitudinally by ribs 30h which extendon opposite sides of the clampingmembers S when these clamping membersare in iclosed lposition and the bar til is further reenforced on itsother side by a longitudinal rib imi to which is secured a handle 35..'I'his handle may be engaged by a rope or chain for supporting thespacing device or lowering it into position` where it is applied to theedges of two adjacent sheet piles. The length of each clamping device 30is such that it spaces two adjacent sheet piles i6, or i6 and 2|, th'erequired distance to permit a sheet pile I6 to be inserted afterA thespacing devices have been removed. If `it be desired to form a somewhatloose engagement between a clamping device 30 and the adjacent sheetpile .which interlocks therewith, in order to permit the pile to bedriven somewhat into the bed of the river or harbor before the clampingdevice is removed, a shim or washer 36 may be placed over one of thelugs 32, as shown in Fig. 14, thus spacing the adjacent clamping member3i!c away from the body portion of the spacing bar 30 and thewedge-shaped pin 33 is then only partially inserted into the slot 32 inthe lug. This clamping and spacing device is claimed in my copendingdivisionaliapplication, Serial No. 17,- 401, filed April 20, 1935.

After the spacing devices 30, which may be When the The bar 30 is.

from each other and to space the inner side panels from the adjacentcorner piles 2i, the wall sections conform to the curvature of the edgesof the raft 23 and kall of the piles occupy vertical positions inreadiness for driving. Before these piles are driven', however, thespacing devices 3i] are removed by taking out the wedge-shaped pins orkeys 33 and releasing the spacing devices which may then be elevated andplaced on the raft. As the spacing devices 3i] are removed from theregion between the two sheet piles connected thereby, another sheet pile'i6 is inserted in interlocking engagement with the adjacent sheetpileswhich have previously been connected by lthe spacing devices, asindicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3. A sheet pile. i6 is inserted ineach of these spaces which have been determined by the spacing devicestti, including sheet pilesv connecting the ends of the innermost sidewall sections with the corner piles 2l which have previously been.driven and which form a part of the previously formed section y IEC ofthe breakwater. This operation requires the elevation of the sheet pilesit, which are to occupy these spaces, until their lower ends are capableof engaging the longitudinal grooves of the sheet piles which are to beconnected by' them and in order to facilitate this operation, a pair ofguide members d@ are` detachably mounted upon the upper ends of thepreviously positioned piles `for guiding the new pile into interlockingengagement with the piles which are to be connected thereby. These guidemembers di! are of the form shown particularly in Figs. 7, 8, and 9 andinclude right-hand and lefthand guide members for engaging oppositeedges of the same sheet pile. Each guide member comprises a horizontalbar lilla having a handle ddh projecting from the upper side thereof andhaving enlargements #30C at its ends from which project downwardly twopairs of spaced legs dtd. At one end, the bar til is provided with akhookshaped member the which conforms to the shape and curvature of theguard members ltd which are formed upon the sheet pile it. The guidemembers t@ areput in position on the upper j ends of the previouslydriven piles it with the legsfid straddling the portions ita and lh ofthe sheet piles. The portions llt@ then are positioned above the guardmembers of-the sheet piles and form stops. against which the hook`members llic of the pile to be driven may be placed, as shown in Fig. 7.Then, upon moving the intervening sheet pile downwardly, the portions40e of the guide members l0 'serve as guides to direct the hook membersI6 of the pile into engagement with the slots I3 of the piles at theends of the panels which have l previously been positioned. -The initialposition in my copending divisional application Serial No. 'F

18,153, led April 25, 1935. l

When all of the spacing devices. 30 have been removed and piles i6 havebeen lowered into in# terlocking engagement with adjacent piles to closethe spaces previously occupied by the spacing devices, there will thenbe a continuous row of interlocking sheet piles around the edges of theraft 23 with the lower ends of the piles resting on the bottom or drivenslightly into the bed of the river or harbor. The parts are then inreadiness for driving all of these connected piles further into the bedor harbor until their upper ends are at substantially the same level atthe upper ends of the piles which form the walls of the breakwatersections |52, I5b and |5, which have previously been constructed. Inthis Way, a surrounding wall for one breakwater section is convenientlyformed to provide an enclosure of predetermined'contour determined bythe form of the raft and all of the piles are so positioned before beingdriven that they can be driven vertically downward without danger of anyof the piles extending at angles to vertical lines, as was the case inthe former practice, where the piles were successively interlocked witheach other at the place Where they were to be driven, and without thenecessity of elevating a great number of piles to a point where theirlower ends are above the raft, inasmuch as the only piles which need tobe thus elevated are those which occupy the spaces intially occupied bythe spacing devices 30 and these spaces are so maintained that the pileswhich are thus elevated and lowered into position may be readilyinserted because .the edges of the piles with which they interlock arespaced uniformly apart. By the same method of construction, a breakwaterof any desired extent may be constructed in the water with a minimum ofdifficulty and with better results than those which have heretofore beenobtainable. When all of the walls of the lbreakwater sections have beenbuilt, they may be filled with stone or other ballast, as illustrated inthe case of section l5.

Although certain examples and embodiments of the invention have beenshown and described by way of illustration, it will be understood thatthe invention may be practiced in various ways and may take variousforms coming within the scope of the .appended claims.

yI claim:

1. 'I'he method of forming a wall of sheet .piling which consists informing a plurality of panels of connected sheet piles, placing saidpanels in position to be driven with the edges of adjacent panels spacedapart, connecting said edges of adjacent panels, and then driving thepiles of said panels.

2. The method of forming a wall of sheet piling which consists informing a plurality of panels of connected sheet piles, placing saidpanels vertically in position to be driven and spacing the adjacentedges thereof apart, inserting sheet .piles to connect said adjacentedges, and then driving all of said piles.

3. The method of forming a wall of sheet' piling which consists informing a plurality oi' panels of connected sheet piles, placing saidpanels in position to be driven, connecting thevedges of adjacent panelsand spacing them apart by detachable spacing devices while said panelsare being positioned, then removing said spacing devices and insertingpiles to connect the edges of adjacent panels, and then driving all ofsaid piles.

4. The method of forming a wall of sheet material which consistsinforming a pair of panels of connected sheet piles, placing said panelsin vertical position ready to be driven, spacingthe adjacent end pilesoi' said panels apart by detachable spacing devices while they are.beingplaced, and then removing said spacing devices and inserting a sheetpile into interlocking encent a pile of said series and spacing ittherefrom in readiness to be. driven, inserting a pile into interlockingengagement with said last named pile and the adjacent end pile of saidpanel, and then driving the piles of said panel.

6. The method of forming a wall of sheet piling which consists inputting a series of sheet piles into interlocking engagement with eachother to form a panel,'securing a bar to said panel to maintain theshape of said panel and to hold said piles in assembled relationship,then placing said panel in position to permit the piles thereof to bedriven, and then removing said bar and driving said piles.

7. The method of forming a wall of sheet piling which consists informing a plurality of panels each consisting of a series of interlockedsheet piles, securing a bar to each of said panels, placing said panelsin position to be driven, spacing the edges of said panels apart,inserting sheet piles in said spaces to connect adjacent panels,removing said bars, and then driving the piles of said panels.

8. The method of forming a wall of sheet piling Which consists informing a plurality of panels of connected sheet piles, placing saidpanels in upright position to form an enclosure,. spacing the edges ofadjacent panels apart by detachable spacing devices, removing saidspacing devices and inserting sheet piles in said spaces to connectadjacent panels, driving said sheet piles, and then filling saidenclosure with ballast.

9. 'Ihe method of forming a wall of sheet piling which consists informing a series of panels each consisting of a plurality of interlockedsheet piles, applying shaping means to each of said panels to give it apredetermined shape, yplacing said panels in upright positions to formanenclosure, spacing the edges' of adjacent panels apart, inserting sheetpiles in said spaces to connect said panels and retain saidpredetermined shape, 'removing said shaping means and then driving allof said sheet piles.

10. The method of forming a wall of sheet piling which consists insecuring a raft at the place where the wall is to be built, forming apanel of connected sheet piles, securing a bar to said panel to giveitarpredetermined shape corresponding with an outline of an edge of saidraft, then placing said panel in upright position adjacent said edge,removing said bar, and driving the piles of said panel.

11. 'I'he method of forming a structure in water which consists infloating a raft upon said water, forming a plurality of panels ofinterlocked sheet piles.' placing said panels in upright position aroundthe edge of said raft, driving the piles of said panels, and thenremoving said raft from the enclosure formed by said panels.

l2. The method of forming a structure in water which consists infloating a raft upon said water, forming a series of panels of connectedsheet piles, placing said panels in upright positions around the edgesof said raft, spacing the edges of adjacent panels apart, placing sheetpiles in said spaces to connect adjacent'panels, and then driving all ofsaid sheet piles.

13. The method of forming a structure in water which consists infloating a raft upon said water, forming a plurality of panels ofconnected sheet piles, securing a bar to each panel to cause it toconform to an edge of a part of said raft, placing said panels inupright positions in contact with the edge portions of said raft towhich'they conform, spacing said panels apart by detachable spacingmeans, removing said spacing means and inserting sheet piles to' connectadjacent panels,'

removing said bars, and then driving all of said sheet piles.

14 The methodof forming a structure in water, which consists in fioatingupon the Water a raft having opposite outwardly curved sides conformingto the desired curvature of one unit of the finished structure andhaving transversely ex tending endsurfaces corresponding to the desiredform of the ends of said unit, forming a series of panels of lconnectedsheet piles, placing said panels in upright positions around the edgesof said raft, spacing the edges of adjacent panels apart, placing sheetpiles in said spaces to con-

